Srinagar, January 29
On the intervention of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, the employees of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (MC) have called off their six-day long strike.

The decision was taken after a meeting with the minister to discuss the issues related to the functioning of the corporation here today, an official spokesman said.

The minister ordered the constitution of a high-level committee to be headed by the divisional commissioner, Kashmir, Masuad Samoon, to look into the issues related to the municipal employees and Aichan residents. He also asked the divisional commissioner to inquire into the allegations of encroachment of the garbage dumping site at Aichan.

He said medical expenses of the corporation employees, who were injured in an attack by some miscreants at the dumping site, would be borne by the corporation.

Mayor Salman Sagar, councillors, Masuad Samoon, IGP, Kashmir, B Srinivas, the commissioner of the corporation and president of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation Employees Union Bashir Ahmad attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Tara Chand, currently visiting Kashmir, conducted an extensive tour of Srinagar city today to take stock of various developmental works under execution. Masuad Samoon and various senior officers accompanied the minister.

Tara Chand visited Saidapora Eidgah, Zoonimar, Soura and STP Laam Nishat areas. At Saidapora, a large number of people met him and apprised him about the inconvenience caused due to delay in laying of water pipes and repair of Dr Ali Jan Road and demanded an early completion of the works.

The minister asked Masuad Samoon to monitor the works and get them completed as early as possible. He directed the engineers concerned to speed up the pace of work and submit the report within two weeks.

Jammu, January 29
The anti-encroachment drive of the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) took an ugly turn at Camp Gole Gujral here today when angry Gujjars resorted to stone throwing, injuring 17 policemen and two JDA employees.

The injured reportedly included Kanachak SHO Surinder Singh and Pouni police post in charge Javed Ahmed and a photojournalist of a vernacular daily. Angry mob also damaged two vehicles of the Fire and Emergency Services and the JDA.

Reports said the situation turned ugly this around 11 am when JDA officials led by director, land management, Asgar Ali Choudhary along with a police team reached Camp Gole Gujral to remove kullas (makeshift hutments of Gujjars) from the JDA land.

Even before the JDA officials could start removing makeshift hutments, a large number of Gujjars gathered at the scene and started protesting, said reports. The police had to resort to a mild lathicharge to disperse agitating Gujjars.

However, the police action infuriated the Gujjars, who pelted the policemen with stones forcing them to flee, and leaving hapless JDA officials to fend for themselves, they said.

The protesters also damaged two vehicles of the Fire and Emergency Services and the JDA. The reports said nomadic Gujjars had forcibly occupied the JDA land where a residential colony had been proposed.

Asgar Ali Choudhary said JDA owned 745 kanals at Gole Gujral, and out of which 131 kanals had been encroached upon. Gujjars had illegally raised around 40 makeshift hutments on the JDA land, including 20 hutments raised in the past 10 to 15 days, This morning, we along with a police team went there to remove the structures, said Choudhary.

However, people prevented us from doing our official duty and pelted the policemen with stones forcing them to flee, he added.

Choudhary said two JDA employees, including a driver, were injured in the incident. Injured cops and JDA employees were later shifted to Government Medical College.

Jammu, January 29
The Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi Party (RKSP) has expressed its solidarity with the Doda migrants, who have been sitting on dharna for the past one year to press their demand for being treated at par with the Kashmiri migrants.

While addressing a press conference here today, Tanveer Hussain Babzada, state president, RKSP, said despite the clear directions by the high court to the state government, these migrants are not being treated at par with the Kashmiri migrants.

Tanveer Hussain also expressed solidarity with protesting government employees, who are demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.

He demanded reservation in jobs for Gujjars and Bakerwals. Hussain also demanded that unemployed youth from the state should be given jobs in the Bhagliar Hydroelectric Power project instead of engaging labours and workers form outside the state.

He further demanded early convening of the Budget Session of the state Assembly and due attention by the government to promote tourism in the three regions of the state.

Jammu, January 29
The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party today proposed the name of party chief Bhim Singh for the fourth seat of the Rajya Sabha for election on February 13.

An MLA and leader of the Panthers Legislature Party, Harsh Dev Singh, also wrote to various political parties to extend their support to Bhim Singh.

Addressing a press conference here today, Harsh Dev Singh said it was clear that in the first two notifications the ruling alliance of the Congress and the NC would win the two seats. “So far as the third notification is concerned, two members shall be elected by the single transferable vote by 86 MLAs,” he said.

He told reporters that one member would be elected by 29 MLAs, while other members would be elected by the remaining 56 members. “Out of these 56, the PDP has 21 (may be 22), the BJP 11 (may be 12), the NPP has three and so on. Thus, no party can win this seat to the Rajya Sabha in the first account. Naturally, it shall give rise to horse-trading,” he said.

Harsh Dev said he talked to senior leaders of different political parties and groups on the issue for a common candidate and also wrote a letter to party presidents to form a consensus.

“We have a common candidate who enjoys acceptability among the people of all three regions,” he said, adding that Bhim Singh had always stood for the promotion of peace and justice in the state.

The Panthers leader stressed that instead of encouraging horse-trading and leaving field for busybodies unaware of the situation prevailing in the state, the party appeal that Bhim Singh should be selected as a common candidate by all political parties and Independents in the state Assembly. 

Jammu, January 29
The state unit of the BJP plans to forge an understanding with other opposition parties for contesting elections to four seats in the Rajya Sabha, besides the Legislative Council and the Lok Sabha elections.

The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the core group of the party here which was presided over by Shanta Kumar, a former Himachal Chief Minister. The meeting ended today where the BJP decided to contact other political groups for the purpose of winning at least one Rajya Sabha seat and two council seats.

BJP president Ashok Khajuria said today that “we are for joining hands with the opposition parties for contesting elections.”

Asked to identify parties with whom the BJP can have some understanding, he said “the Panthers Party and others are there.” He, however, did not identify other parties saying talks with them were yet to begin.

Party sources said the BJP may not be averse to an understanding with the PDP, which had 21 members in the Assembly, and other Independent MLAs. If this experiment materialised, it could help the PDP to win one Rajya Sabha seat and more than five out of 19 seats in the Legislative Council.

The BJP has plans of contesting two Lok Sabha seats -- Poonch-Jammu and Kathua-Udhampur. If it receives support from the Panthers Party and the PDP, its chances of winning both seats could brighten.

Jammu, January 29
Women MLAs, nominated by Governor NN Vohra, were today sworn in as members of the state legislative Assembly.

Speaker pro-tem Chowdhary Mohammad Aslam administered the oath to Indu Pawar and Bimla Luthra in his office at the Assembly secretariat around noon today, secretary of the state legislative Assembly, M Ramzan said.

Pawar and Luthra were nominated as members by the Governor yesterday in exercise of the powers vested in him under the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution.

Article 47 of J-K Constitution empowers the Governor to nominate two women as members of the Assembly if he is of the opinion that women are not adequately represented in the Assembly.

Those, present on the occasion, included Minister for Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather, Member of Legislative Council S Pradhuman Singh and some senior officers of the government.

Luthra is president of NC’s women wing while Pawar is the president of Mahila wing of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee. With the nomination of these two MLAs, the total strength of the Assembly has risen to 88.

Though elections for the state Assembly were held for 87 seats, Farooq Abdullah, who was elected from two Assembly constituencies of Hazratbal and Sonawar, later resigned from Sonawar segment. — PTI

Jammu, January 29
While unqualified teachers are teaching in some private schools in Jammu, many qualified and eligible candidates are jobless.

The shortage of teaching staff in schools has forced the school authorities to appoint under-matriculation teachers for imparting elementary education.

Expressing anguish over it, some parents alleged that their children are receiving poor education instead of quality education in private schools too.

“Elementary education builds the base of students, but when it is taught by the unqualified teachers, what will our children get?” said Santoshi Kumari, a resident of Shastri Nagar.

“The school authorities should appoint those teachers who have a BEd degree,” said Ratan Lal, another resident of the area.

“Teachers should be appointed on the basis of qualification and their ability to establish a quick rapport with the students,” said Kishori Lal, a resident of Sarwal.

“Though private schools have mushroomed in the city, it is of no use sending our children to these schools if they fail to provide quality education,” said Balwant Singh, a resident of Nanak Nagar.

Although private schools were known to provide quality education, it was unfortunate that some private schools had appointed lesser qualified teachers for imparting education to primary classes, said Sanjay Mishra, a resident of Rehari.

“As per the selection norms, only those candidates are eligible for appointment who are graduates. In government schools, we do not appoint undergraduate candidates, where private schools even appoint persons with Class XII qualification as teachers for primary classes,” said Zahida Khan, director, school education.

Jammu, January 29
Though the local Government Medical College Hospital is being upgraded to the level of AIIMS with the help and aid of the Union Health Ministry, the patients assert the hospital is "ill-equipped to cope up with rush" as a majority of them are shifted to other hospitals.

The hospital lacks beds in the intensive care unit and a majority of the patients, who come here in a serious condition, are shifted to private hospitals.

"After my cousin suffered a major accident, the doctor advised to shift him to the ICU, but we were told that all beds there were occupied. We were compelled to shift the patient in a critical condition to a private hospital," said Ranjeet Singh

The patients and attendants rue the indifferent attitude of doctors and other hospital staff. "The first and foremost duty of a doctor should be to save the life of a patient, but they are least bothered as we have to make frequent requests to the doctor on duty visit the patient," complained Pramodh Kumar, an attendant. "Leaking pipes, choked toilets, stinking and overcrowded wards and filth littered here and there are routine in the emergency block of the hospital," said Manjeet Singh, an attendant with a patient.

Dr Rajinder Singh, principal of the GMC hospital, said various measures were initiated to provide better healthcare. "We have introduced various specialty and super-specialty treatment in our hospital. ICU and the CCU units are well-equipped to cope up with the heavy rush. We are in the process of adding six more beds in the ICU," he said.

Regarding poor sanitation, he said: "The problem is due to old pipes. We are putting in place a new sewage system to redress the problem."

Srinagar, January 29
A day after three militants were killed in two separate encounters, the police nabbed a Hizbul Mujahideen militant from Kulgam and rounded up two overground workers of the outfit in Pulwama.

The police said Hizbul militant Feroz Ahmad Zargar, 20, was arrested and a Chinese pistol, a magazine and other ammunition were seized from him. He had served in the outfit earlier also, but had left it after his earlier arrest. The police said he joined the Hizbul Mujahideen again and they were looking for him.

Reports said the police also arrested overground workers Abdul Qayoom Rah of Manduna and Mohammad Maqbool Dar of Murran from the bus stand in Pulwama district today.

Meanwhile, a major tragedy was averted when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detected and defused in Shopian town. The police said 44 Rashtriya Rifles personnel detected and defused an explosive device near Gool Chakri in Shopian around 7 am.

There were also protests in Handwara where security forces had killed an Pakistani militant in an encounter that ended yesterday morning.

The protesters claimed that the security forces damaged several houses in the firefight even as the militant was hiding in only one house.

Udhampur, January 29
The arrest of three persons, including a storekeeper of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department, has once again exposed claims of the department to keep a check on black-marketeering of ration meant for poor and needy people.

While as a majority of government-run outlets are empty due to the non-availability of ration, officials of the CAPD Department found involved in selling in the open market the ration that was meant for the below poverty line (BPL) people. The Doda police has arrested three persons, including a storekeeper of the CAPD Department, and two drivers smuggling a large quantity of ration meant for the BPL people in the local market. As many as 317 bags of flour meant for the BPL ration depots of Doda’s rural areas were seized from two trucks in Doda town when they were being smuggled from the CAPD depot and were being sold in the local market.

While as the officers of the CAPD Department have maintained a silence over the issue, police sources said 178 bags were seized from a truck bearing registration number 4626 JK01C and 139 bags were seized from another vehicle number 4286 JK01C.

The arrested drivers have been identified as Mohammad Rafiq, a resident of Panjgrain, and Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Bebli, Doda. During preliminary questioning, the drivers named CAPD depot storekeeper Satish Kumar, who was also arrested. Satish Kumar had sublet the official depot privately to Krishan Lal, who used to smuggle BPL ration. 

Jammu, January 29
With the arrest of three vehicle lifters and recovery of 16 stolen vehicles, including a car and an auto-rickshaw, the Jammu police today claimed to have busted a gang of thieves, which had been operating in the district from the past over one year.

Addressing mediapersons here today, SSP, Jammu, Manohar Singh said vehicles had been stolen from different parts of the city and their actual owners are being ascertained.

The gang was headed by one Kehar Singh, alias Sonu of Digiana and had a unique modus-operandi to lift vehicles, said the SSP, adding that after lifting a vehicle the gang used to steal documents of the vehicle.

Subsequently, Kehar Singh, the kingpin, used to tamper engine number and chassis number of the stolen vehicles on the documents before disposing them off at cheaper prices through his accomplices Joginder Singh, alias Montu of Preet Nagar Digiana and Subhash Kumar, alias KC of Digiana, he added.

He said if employee from the Regional Transport Office was found involved in helping the gang to prepare fake registration certificates, action under law would be taken against him.